1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to connectors, and more specifically to dual serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) connectors.
2. Background Information
Currently, most computers have a storage device called a hard drive. A hard drive is connected to the computer by way of an interface, usually a controller card, a cable, and some software protocols. One type of hard drive interface used today is an integrated drive electronics (IDE) interface. This is also known as an advanced technology attachment (ATA) interface. ATA is the actual interface specification for the IDE standard. The current IDE/ATA standard is a parallel interface whereby multiple bits of data are transmitted at one time across the interface simultaneously during each transfer. A parallel interface allows for high throughput, however, as the frequency of the interface is increased, signaling problems and interference between signals become common.
Serial ATA (SATA) is an interface specification that abandons the parallel concept in favor of a serial interface where only one bit is transferred at a time. This allows the interface to operate at higher speeds without the problems associated with a parallel interface at higher speeds. As computer processor performance has increased, so have the read/write data rates of hard disk drive heads and media. Serial ATA eliminates bottlenecks that occur in parallel AT interfaces.
Currently, serial ATA connectors are only single position seven pin connectors. Today, not only are processor speeds increasing, but the amount of space that a computer fits into is shrinking. Therefore, the motherboards or printed circuit boards (PCB) that hold the electronics and other devices for a computer have limited space. In a computer which may contain multiple hard drives, multiple SATA connectors may need to reside on the printed circuit board. This takes up considerable space, depending on the number of hard disk drives and associated SATA connectors.
Therefore, there is a need for a dual serial ATA connector that saves PCB space and simplifies the assembly and manufacturing of the PCB.